Italy acquits Egyptian citizen of human trafficking charges

CAIRO – 1 June 2018: An Italy-based Egyptian citizen has been acquitted of human trafficking charges that he was previously indicted on, according to Italian website AKI, citing Italian security sources on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Egyptian citizen, whose name is Assa’ad Nassif Hajaj Mohamed Ghareb, was arrested in 2014 on charges of facilitating smuggling immigration to Italy.

Ghareb’s indictment came as part of a broader investigation launched into an Italian-Egyptian smuggling group that used to smuggle to Italy hundreds of citizens coming from African and Middle Eastern countries, according to the report of AKI.

The report added that Ghareeb is currently working and living normally in Italy.

The Egyptian Parliament approved in October 2016 a new illegal-immigration and smuggling law, including tough penalties on whoever assists and facilitates the process of illegal immigration. The law was drafted by the Cabinet in 2015, and was sent in June 2016 to the Parliament for discussion.

The Parliament’s efforts to approve the law came following the boat that capsized off the coast of Rashid in Beheira governorate while heading to Europe, killing dozens of people.